Other activities

Projects

Blight Bank Transformer Station installed

Blight Bank Transformer Station installed

Every Scaldis project faces one challenge or another.
When lifting the Blight Bank transformer station (1000 tonne) , the challenge wasn’t the weight, the position of the centre of gravity or limiting clearances. Instead it was the preparation, approval and execution of an anchor lay-out in a live wind farm field. For every anchor wire deployed by the Rambiz, Scaldis had to guarantee sufficient clearance for crossing the different infield cables and export cable. To safely achieve this, we used a four-point mooring system with four midline buoys, two floatable mooring ropes and two pre-laid anchors.

Installation of the Rampion jacket

Installation of the Rampion jacket

Thanks to the good weather conditions and swift installation and grouting operations, Scaldis SMC successfully installed the Rampion OSS jacket on the south coast of England well ahead of schedule..

Operations included turning the jacket while it was suspended and partially submerged. After the 90 degrees rotation, the 1000 tonne jacket structure was placed on the sea bottom, followed by the usual piling and grouting activities.

Marine mammal observation, as well as passive acoustic and noise monitoring, took place during the piling activities to ensure environmental standards were met.

HLV Rambiz will return to E.ON’s Rampion OWF field to install the OSS topside that is currently being fabricated by Babcock.

T&I of Gemini substations

T&I of Gemini substations

The Gemini project is the construction of two offshore wind farms, the ZeeEnergie and Buitengaats, in the Netherlands. Scaldis was awarded the transportation and installation of both offshore high voltage substations.

The jackets were fabricated and loaded onto a barge in Flushing and the topsides were transported from Hoboken to the field. Scaldis was responsible for transportation of the barges, the installation of the jackets, the piling and grouting works and the installation of the topsides.

Thanks to comprehensive preparation, a good cooperation with the clients and an experienced crew and sub-contractors, the project was completed as planned and on time.

T&I Luchterduinen topside

T&I Luchterduinen topside

In February 2015 the barge Louis loaded with the Luchterduinen OHVS module was towed from Hoboken, Belgium to Ijmuiden, The Netherlands. A few days later when the Rambiz sailed into the port of Ijmuiden the barge Louis was turned perpendicular in the Ijmondhaven. Rambiz connected to the barge and lifted the rigging up onto her deck.

Four Scaldis riggers were transferred to the barge by gangway. They climbed to the top of the OVHS module and installed the rigging. This consisted of 4x 600 tons hydraulic shackles that needed to be connected to the OHVS padeyes. After all the rigging was connected and pre-tensioned to 50% of the load, the 16 bolts of the seafastening, four on each support, were disconnected and the OHVS was lifted out of its supports.

The Rambiz was unmoored from the barge and moored at the Monnickendamkade. The cranes from the Rambiz were boomed up and two of four stabbing pins of the OHVS module were lowered into the customised frames on the Rambiz' bow. The load in the cranes was reduced until 75 tons of the OHVS weight was resting on each support.

After resting the module, the Rambiz waited for three hours as adviced by the port authorities due to high currents when sailing out. At around 22:00 the pilot came on board and Rambiz sailed to the Luchterduinen field with the module suspended in her crane hooks.

Upon arrival in the field Rambiz anchored with the assistance of her own tug Multratug 4

Two floating wires were used on the Rambiz bow anchor wires to keep sufficient clearance of the previously installed in-field and export cables. When all four anchors were installed an anchor test was performed to check the holding capacity of the anchor pattern. After the succesful test, Rambiz shifted towards the monopile and lifted the OHVS module free of her deck. The OHVS module was lifted above the catchers, installed on the monopile, positioned and lowered into place. After touchdown of the OHVS module, the load was partly reduced and three Scaldis riggers were transferred to the OHVS module via a man basket.

The Scaldis riggers disconnted all four hydraulic shackles and retrieved the rigging before returning to the Rambiz. Multratug 4 and Rambiz retrieved all four anchors and sailed to Flushing.

HLV Rambiz was on-site for 24 hours, during which time the entire offshore installation was completed.

The major advantages of this approach are the limited time needed offshore and the reduced risk by connecting rigging in sheltered waters.

Installation subsea jacket for Baltic II offshore substation

Installation subsea jacket for Baltic II offshore substation

In August 2014 Scaldis installed the subsea jacket for the Baltic II offshore substation. The jacket was manufactured by Weserwind in Bremerhaven and towed to the offshore location in the Baltic Sea.

The jacket is a four legged structure weighing 1500 tons. After installation, the top of the jacket is approximately 5 m below sea level. This clearance is needed to allow the installation of the float-over substation. A pile (80.3 m long with a diameter of 5m) was installed in each of the four jacket sleeves.

As the pile diameter was much bigger than standard for jacket foundation piles, a custom-made upending frame was designed to assist the Rambiz with this task. Once in a vertical position, the piles were stabbed into the jacket sleeve. Due to limited self-penetration and the height of the piles, the Rambiz was equipped with a newly designed pile frame on the bow of the vessel. Once the pile was secured in the frame, it was hammered 65m into the seabed in order to have enough holding capacity for the jacket. All four piles were grouted to the jacket to make the rigid structure safe for the substation installation. After the grouting was completed, the submerged rigging platform was removed with ROV assistance and the Rambiz left the site.

Installation of the Nordsee Ost jacket and topside

Installation of the Nordsee Ost jacket and topside

RWE contracted Scaldis for the lift-off, transport and set down of the 800 tons Nordsee Ost substation jacket.

Rambiz lifted the jacket from the quayside in Wilhelmshaven, Germany and secured it in the vessel's crane hook for transport to the offshore site, a distance of approx. 68NM.

Exactly one year after HLV Rambiz successfully completed the installation of the Nordsee Ost substation jacket, the vessel returned to install the Nordsee Ost topside.

RWE contracted Scaldis for the transportation and installation of the 2000 tons transfo station.

The topside was transported on a barge from Bladt Industries fabrication yard in Aalborg to the Nordsee Ost field, 390NM away in the German Bight.

12 hours after the barge arrived in the field, HLV Rambiz lifted and installed the topside.

Installation of the Butendiek substation

Installation of the Butendiek substation

In April 2014, Scaldis executed the complete offshore installation of the Butendiek wind farm substation.

This substation, owned by Wpd, is located in the German Bight, the German North Sea sector. Scaldis was responsible for liffting and placing of the jacket foundation on the seabed; four pile lifts, upending, stabbing and hammering piles to penetration depth; noise mitigation during piling works, jacket levelling, grouting, and lastly lifting the topside onto the jacket foundation.

Some project specifications:

Weightof the Butendiek jacket : 1032 tonnes

Pile specification : W = 238 tonnes, Ø = 96”, L = 61m

Weight of the Butendiek topside : 2250 tonnes

Challenges overcome during this project include :

Working outside the offshore season in the German Bight sector, which is known for unfavourable weather conditions.

Designing lifting arrangements to make maximum use of Rambiz' capacities for pile upending and topside lift operations.

Installation of the Amrumbank West substation

Installation of the Amrumbank West substation

In April and May 2014, Scaldis executed the complete offshore installation of the Amrumbank West wind farm substation. This substation, owned by E.o.N. is located in the German Bight, the German North Sea sector. Scaldis was responsible for lifting and placing jacket foundation on the seabed, four pile lifts, upending, stabbing and hammering piles to penetration depth; noise mitigation during piling works; jacket levelling, grouting and lastly lifting the topside onto the jacket foundation.

Some project specifications :

Weight of the Amrumbank jacket : 980 tonnes

Pile specifications : W = 165 tonnes, Ø = 96”, L = 54m

Weight of the Amrumbank topside : 2100 tonnes

Challenges overcome during this project include :

Working outside the offshore season in the German Bight sector, which is known for unfavourable weather conditions.

Designing lifting arrangements to make maximum use of Rambiz capacities for pile upending and topside lift operations.

Dong Energy A/S awarded Scaldis the contract for transportation and installation of the Borkum Riffgrund 1 Offshore wind farm substation which is located in the south-eastern part of the North Sea approximately 20NM north of the German island of Borkum.

Scaldis transported the substation jacket, eight piles and topside by barge from Aalborg (Denmark) to the offshore site in August 2013. At the site HLV Rambiz lifted and installed the nearly 1700 tonnes jacket, placed and piled to depth the eight foundations piles, grouted the jacket sleeves and lifted the 1850 tonnes topside onto the jacket.

During the piling operations a bubble screen was used to reduce the noise. The operations were successfully and quickly completed.

Lifting and placing of gravity based foundations for the Karehamn Wind farm

Lifting and placing of gravity based foundations for the Karehamn Wind farm

In September 2012 HLV Rambiz installed 16 gravity based foundations (GBF) in the Swedish part of the Baltic Sea, East of the Isle of Oland, in the vicinity of Karehamn.

The on-site water depths varies from 8 to 21 metres which meant that all foundations had different dimensions and weights. The heaviest foundation was over 1950 tonnes and a height of 24,5 metres.

The foundations were fabricated by Jan De Nul and constructed directly onto 2 large pontoons in Zeebrugge harbour in Belgium. The largest pontoon contained 12 foundations and the smallest pontoon had 4 foundations. From the harbour the pontoons were towed to the location in Sweden, where Rambiz lifted the foundations from the pontoons and placed them onto the prepared seabed.

T&I of Ormonde jackets and SSP

T&I of Ormonde jackets and SSP

Scaldis was awarded the contract, along with GeoSea, its sister company, to transport and install substructures for 5MW wind turbines in the Ormonde field. Additionally,HLV Rambiz and Swiber Else Marie installed 31 jackets in pre-installed piles in the Irish Sea, offshore Barrow in Furness, UK.

The Ormonde wind farm construction started in the spring of 2010. The scope of work included :

transportation, installation and measuring of pin piles (GeoSea)

transportation and installation of jackets including grouting (Scaldis)

lifting and placing of the substation deck (Scaldis)

Scaldis transported the 31 WTG foundation jackets and substation jacket on extended North Sea barges from the fabrication yard on the northeast coast of the UK to the mid-west coast. Each barge contained four jackets, positioned vertically. Once on site the HLV Rambiz lifted the jackets from the barge and inserted them in the pre-installed piles. Once a jacket was placed, a separate DP II grout vessel inserted grout into the annulus between jacket and piles. Finally the 1000 ton substation deck was lifted by HLV Rambiz onto the substation jacket foundation.

Lifting and installation of a current turbine generator

Lifting and installation of a current turbine generator

Scaldis installed a tidal turbine (1200T) in the Strangforth Lough, East coast Ireland in 2009.

The tidal turbine was lifted from a quayside in Belfast and partially loaded onto the deck of HLV Rambiz. Subsequently the tidal turbine was transported over sea to site and installed in the Strangforth Lough at neap tide.

T&I of two 5MW wind turbine generators for the Beatrice Demonstrator Project

T&I of two 5MW wind turbine generators for the Beatrice Demonstrator Project

The Beatrice Wind farm Demonstrator Project included the installation of two deepwater offshore wind turbines in an environmentally sensitive area of the Scottish coast.

Whereas most offshore wind turbines are put together offshore, the Beatrice wind turbines were constructed onshore. The complete turbine was then lifted, transported and placed onto the pre-installed jacket by HLV Rambiz.